# List of Mercer University people

Mercer University is a private, coeducational university in Macon, Georgia, founded in 1833.
Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music, engineering, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, law, theology, and continuing and professional studies. Mercer enrolls approximately 8,300 students in its eleven colleges and schools.

## Alumni

This is a list of notable Mercer alumni and employees.

### Arts, education, media, and industry

* Tom Abbott – broadcaster with Golf Channel and NBC Sports
* Adam Ragusea – Popular food YouTuber and former journalism professor at Mercer University.
* Gregg Allman – musician, received an honorary degree in 2016
* Steve Berry – author of six novels including several New York Times bestsellers
* John B. Black – president, East Georgia College
* J. Buford Boone – Pulitzer Prize-winning author (1957); recognized for editorials against segregation
* David Bottoms – Georgia Poet Laureate, 2000–2012
* William H. Bruce – Mercer's first doctoral graduate (1890); president, Tarleton State University, 1899–1900; president, University of North Texas, 1906–1923
* James C. Coomer – political scientist and author
* Harry Stillwell Edwards – former editor, Macon Telegraph; author of 19 books, including the Southern classic Eneas Africanus
* Erick Erickson – political contributor for John King, USA on CNN
* Nancy Grace – legal commentator and guest host for Larry King Live; hosted her own show, Nancy Grace on CNN
* Keitaro Harada – opera and orchestra conductor
* Rufus Carrollton Harris – president, Tulane University, 1939–1960; president, Mercer University, 1960–1979, co-author of the GI Bill
* Y. Lynn Holmes – president, Brewton-Parker College, 1983–1997
* Malcolm Johnson – Pulitzer Prize-winning author (1949); his reports were the basis for On the Waterfront, which starred Marlon Brando
* Anne B. Kerr – president, Florida Southern College
* William Heard Kilpatrick – career educator; first president of the Bennington College board of trustees, 1931–1938
* Landrum P. Leavell – president, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1975–1995
* Dr. Henry Lewis III – president, Florida Memorial University
* Bruce D. McDonald III – university professor, North Carolina State University
* Reg Murphy – former president and vice chairman, National Geographic Society; publisher, Baltimore Sun; editor and publisher, San Francisco Examiner; editor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; author of Uncommon Sense: The Achievement of Griffin Bell
* William F. Ogburn – sociologist; former president of the American Sociological Society
* George P. Oslin – former Western Union executive; invented the singing telegram in 1933
* Lyman Ray Patterson – law professor and copyright scholar; former dean, Emory University School of Law
* James Rachels – moral philosopher, university professor, and author; best known for his writing on euthanasia
* Ed Roberts – designed the first commercially successful personal computer in 1975; known as "the father of the personal computer"
* Ferrol Sams – widely read Southern author, known for Run with the Horsemen and Whisper of the River
* Corbett H. Thigpen – psychiatrist; co-author of The Three Faces of Eve
* Ellis Paul Torrance – educator known for pioneering research in creativity; namesake of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development
* Phil Walden – music pioneer and founder of Capricorn Records; represented Otis Redding and The Allman Brothers
* Martin Christopher White – president, Chowan University, 2003–present; former president, Gardner–Webb University, 1986–2002

### Law

For further alumni, see also: Walter F. George School of Law.
* Griffin Bell – Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 1962–1976; 72nd Attorney General of the United States, 1977–1979
* Reason C. Bell – Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1943–1946; Associate Justice, 1932–1943 and 1946–1949; Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals, 1922–1932
* William Augustus Bootle – Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1954–2005; ordered the first admission of an African-American to the University of Georgia in 1961
* G. Harrold Carswell – Judge, Federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida, 1958–1969; Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1969–1970; unsuccessful nominee to the United States Supreme Court, 1970
* Barry Cohen – criminal defense attorney, 1966–2018
* Linton McGee Collins – Judge, United States Court of Claims, 1964–1972
* Brainerd Currie – law professor; noted conflict of laws scholar who developed the characterisation concept of governmental interest analysis
* Thomas Hoyt Davis – Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, 1945–1969
* Beverly Daniel Evans, Jr. – Georgia Supreme Court Justice, 1904–1917; Federal District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, 1917–1922
* Albert John Henderson – Judge, United States Court of Appeals, 1979–1999; Judge, Federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 1968–1979
* Archibald Battle Lovett – Judge, Federal District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, 1941–1945
* Scott D. Makar – Florida Solicitor General
* M. Yvette Miller – Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals; the first African-American woman to serve on the court
* Carlton Mobley – Chief Justice, Georgia Supreme Court, 1972–1974; Associate Justice, 1954–1972; United States Representative, Georgia's 6th Congressional district, 1932–1933
* Michael J. Moore – United States Attorney, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
* Willie Louis Sands – Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia; the first African-American to serve on the court
* Jay Sekulow – chief counsel, American Center for Law and Justice
* Hugh Thompson – Georgia Supreme Court Justice
* Marc T. Treadwell – Judge, Federal District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
* L. Lin Wood – attorney and conspiracy theorist on President Donald Trump's legal team tasked with overturning the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election

### Politics
#### U.S. senators

* Four Mercerians have served as United States Senators, all from Georgia.
* Walter F. George – United States Senator from Georgia, 1922–1957, served as President pro tempore, 1955–1957; namesake of Mercer's Law School
* Thomas W. Hardwick – United States Senator from Georgia, 1915–1919; Governor of Georgia, 1921–1923; as Governor, appointed Rebecca L. Felton as the first female United States Senator
* Thomas E. Watson – United States Representative, Georgia's 10th Congressional district, 1891–1893; United States Senator from Georgia, 1921–1922
* William S. West – United States Senator from Georgia, 1914–1914

#### Governors

* Eleven Mercerians have served as Governors: six of Georgia, two of Alabama, and one each of New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Texas.
* Ellis Arnall – Governor of Georgia, 1943–1947
* Allen D. Candler – Governor of Georgia, 1898–1902; United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1883–1891; namesake of Candler County, Georgia
* Nathan Deal – United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1993–2010; served as Governor of Georgia 2011–2019
* Thomas W. Hardwick – United States Senator from Georgia, 1915–1919; Governor of Georgia, 1921–1923; as Governor, appointed Rebecca L. Felton as the first female United States Senator
* Richard B. Hubbard – Governor of Texas, 1876–1879; US Ambassador to Japan, 1885–1889
* William D. Jelks – Governor of Alabama, 1901–1907
* Henry Dickerson McDaniel – Governor of Georgia, 1883–1886
* William J. Northen – Governor of Georgia, 1890–1894; president, Southern Baptist Convention, 1899–1901; served as a Mercer trustee for 44 years, 1869–1913
* Chauncey Sparks – Governor of Alabama, 1943–1947
* Meldrim Thomson, Jr. – Governor of New Hampshire, 1973–1979
* Blanton Winship – Governor of Puerto Rico (1934–1939)

#### U.S. representatives

* Twenty-one Mercerians have served as United States representatives; the most recent (as of 2021) was Scott Rigell of Virginia. Seventeen were from Georgia, three from Florida, and one from Virginia.
* Doug Barnard – United States Representative, Georgia's 10th Congressional district, 1977–1993
* Allen D. Candler – Governor of Georgia, 1898–1902; United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1883–1891; namesake of Candler County, Georgia
* Edward E. Cox – United States Representative, Georgia's 2nd Congressional district, 1925–1952
* Martin J. Crawford – United States Representative, Georgia's 2nd Congressional district, 1855–1861; Representative to the Confederate Provisional Congress, 1861–1862; Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia, 1880–1883
* Nathan Deal – United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1993–2010; served as Governor of Georgia 2011–2019
* Robert W. Everett – United States Representative, Georgia's 7th Congressional district, 1891–1893
* Phillip M. Landrum – United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1953–1977
* Thomas G. Lawson – United States Representative, Georgia's 8th Congressional district, 1891–1897
* Rufus E. Lester – United States Representative, Georgia's 1st Congressional district, 1889–1906
* Charles L. Moses – United States Representative, Georgia's 4th Congressional district, 1891–1897
* James W. Overstreet – United States Representative, Georgia's 1st Congressional district, 1906–1907 and 1917–1923
* Homer C. Parker – United States Representative, Georgia's 1st Congressional district, 1931–1935
* Scott Rigell – United States Representative, Virginia's 2nd Congressional district, 2011–2017
* Seaborn Roddenbery – United States Representative, Georgia's 2nd Congressional district, 1910–1913
* Dwight L. Rogers – United States Representative, Florida's 6th Congressional district, 1945–1954
* William J. Sears – United States Representative, Florida's 4th Congressional district, 1915–1929; United States Representative, an at-large Florida district, 1933–1937
* Malcolm C. Tarver – United States Representative, Georgia's 7th Congressional district, 1927–1947
* Carl Vinson – United States Representative for over 50 years, 1914–1965; long-time Chairman, House Armed Services Committee; has been called the "patriarch of the armed services" and the "father of the two-ocean navy"; namesake of the USS Carl Vinson
* Thomas E. Watson – United States Representative, Georgia's 10th Congressional district, 1891–1893; United States Senator from Georgia, 1921–1922
* J. Mark Wilcox – United States Representative, Florida's 4th Congressional district, 1933–1939
* John S. Wood – United States Representative, Georgia's 9th Congressional district, 1931–1935 and 1945–1953; Chairman, House Un-American Activities Committee, 1949–1953

#### Other

* Brad Bryant – Superintendent of the Georgia public schools, one of Georgia's eight statewide executive officials, 2010–2011
* Cathy Cox – Georgia Secretary of State, 1999–2007; first woman elected to this position
* Luis Eduardo Díaz Granados – Colombian Representative
* Walter C. Dowling – United States Ambassador to South Korea, 1956–1959; United States Ambassador to Germany, 1959–1963
* Winfred Dukes – Georgia State Representative
* John Oxendine – Georgia Insurance Commissioner, 1995–2011
* John Peyton – Mayor, Jacksonville, Florida, the most populous city in Florida and the thirteenth most populous in the United States, 2003–2011
* William Usery Jr. – United States Secretary of Labor, 1976–1977
* Julian Webb – Member of the Georgia State Senate 1963–1974 and the Georgia Court of Appeals 1974–1979
* Samuel J. Welsch – Member of the Georgia House of Representatives, the Georgia State Senate, and mayor of Marietta, Georgia.

### Military

* John Birch – missionary, U.S. Army intelligence officer, and OSS agent in China during World War II; namesake of the John Birch Society
* Ross W. Crossley, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, V Corps Artillery, 1983–85; Chief of Staff, V Corps, 1985–88
* Benjamin S. Griffin, General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command, 2004–08
* Richard E. Hawes, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy – commanded several vessels during World War II; recipient of the Navy Cross; namesake of the USS Hawes
* Alexander T. Hawthorn, Brigadier-General, C.S. Army – Commander, 4th Arkansas Infantry Brigade, 1863–65
* Michael L. Howard, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Deputy Commanding General, 10th Mountain Division, 2013–present; Commander, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, the only airborne brigade in the Pacific Theater, 2008–10
* Claude M. Kicklighter, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, United States Army, Pacific, 1989–91; after military retirement, served in senior civilian positions in the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs; Assistant Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, 2001–05; Inspector General, Department of Defense, 2007–08
* C. Stewart Rodeheaver, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Deputy Commanding General, First United States Army, 2006–09
* William T. Thielemann, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Commander, 48th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), Georgia Army National Guard, 1995–97
* George J. Walker, Brigadier General, U.S. Army – Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, U.S. Army Forces Command, 1987–89; member, Military Intelligence Hall of Fame
* Perry L. Wiggins, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army – Commanding General, Fifth United States Army, 2013–present; Commander, 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley, 2008–09
* Blanton Winship, Major General, U.S. Army – The Judge Advocate General (TJAG), 1931–33; Governor of Puerto Rico, 1934–39

### Science

* Godwin Maduka – MD and founder of Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Center
* Kevin Greenaugh - First African American to earn a PhD in nuclear engineering from The University of Maryland College Park

### Other public service

* Ed Bacon – rector emeritus of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California
* Betty Cantrell – Miss America 2016
* Charles Kelsey Dozier – missionary and founder of Seinan Gakuin University in Japan
* Louie D. Newton – influential Baptist minister; president, Southern Baptist Convention, 1947–1948; president, Georgia Baptist Convention, 1950–1951; pastor of Druid Hills Baptist Church in Atlanta for more than 40 years; namesake of Mercer's Newton Hall, a large chapel on the Macon campus
* Steadman V. Sanford – former chancellor, University System of Georgia; namesake of Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia

### Athletics

* Rob Belloir – former Major League Baseball infielder for the Atlanta Braves
* William Brennan – former Major League Baseball pitcher
* Cindy Brogdon – former basketball player who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics
* Billy Burns – Major League Baseball outfielder in the New York Yankees organization
* Wally Butts – head football coach, University of Georgia (1939–1960), athletic director (1939–1963); member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame
* Jimmy Carnes – head track & field coach, Furman University (1962–1964), University of Florida (1965–1976), U.S. Olympic team (1980); founding president of USA Track & Field (1980–1984)
* Andrea Congreaves – women's basketball player in the WNBA and in Europe
* Wesley Duke – former tight end for the Denver Broncos, 2005 AFC West Champions
* Cory Gearrin – Major League Baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees
* Hilda M. Hankerson – high school basketball coach
* Big James Henderson – powerlifter who competed in the International Powerlifting Federation and won five world bench press titles (1994–1998)
* Kyle Lewis – Major League Baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners
* Mike Mimbs – former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies
* Sam Mitchell – head coach, Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (2004–2008); selected as the 2007 NBA Coach of the Year
* Joe Pettini – former Major League Baseball infielder and coach
* Bill Yoast – high school football coach made famous in the film Remember the Titans